small things {girl time}

small things #13 ... girl time

We load up in Dad’s gray car.  Just us girls.  No boys today for this trip.  We each have our purses.  Or at least two of us do.  The third little girly is planning to get one today.

As we back out of the driveway, I peek in the rearview mirror and see two smiles shining back at me.  Excitement is bubbling over in the backseat.

“What are you girls shopping for?”

“Earrings and an earring holder.  The one I saw at Claire’s that one time.”

“I don’t know. But I want a purse.  And other stuff.”

As we pull into the mall parking lot, we find a parking place.  Right near the door.

“They must have what we want!”

The girls grab their sweatshirts.  It’s a little chilly.  We have a quick discussion about the need for wraps since we are headed indoors.  They decide to tie their hoodies around their waists.  Just in case.  I lock the car doors and we head across the parking lot.  Looking both ways.  The girls have happy feet.  They skip and twirl along the sidewalk.  Chatting and giggling about getting to go shopping.  Just us.

This is our first ever trip to the mall.  Solely for the purpose of buying fun stuff.  They each have their own cash.  Money saved up from birthdays and weekly allowances.  Money dumped from piggy banks and wadded up into wallets before we left the house.

We enter the jewelry store.  A “candy” store of bling and sparkle.  Norah heads over to the spinning displays of earrings.  Literally thousands to choose from.  Dangly, sparkly, simple hoops and even fruit with eyes.

“Who would wear something like this?”

“Somebody with funny ears?”

Ashley is in the hunt for a purse.  Something with pockets.  And nooks.  And crannies to fill with treasures and tidbits.  She peers at the wall of bags and points to a pink one.  She unzips the purse and peeks in, digging past the tissue paper to see if there are enough zippers and pouches within.  Nope.

We wander throughout the store, examining purses and clutches.  Some are adorable from the outside, but lack the necessary cubby holes.  Some have plenty of pockets, but are big enough for my little six year old to climb into.

Norah returns to us with her treasures.  Earrings and a black lace-looking earring holder.  She’s smiling and impatient to check out.

Ashley agrees to keep looking.  To check out Target for more options.  But if she can’t find anything else, we’ll come back for the bright blue purse with the two zippered pouches.  The polka-dots on the fabric inside made her smile and the pockets and pouches would hold her goodies.  Maybe it was the one.

As it turns out, Target wins Ashley over with a purple purse, complete with zippers and pockets and a little strap that fits her little shoulder perfectly.  It would go great hanging from my wrist.  She declares that it also matches her owl wallet and there’s enough room for her chap stick, too.

She got to use her gift card for her purse and other purchases, which left her with actual money to have in her purse as we left the store.  As we sat on the bench in the mall corridor, we organized her purse.  This pocket for receipts.  This zipper for chap stick.  This little spot would be perfect for her gum.

We stood and picked up our purchases.  With bags in each hand and each of us with our purses slung over our shoulders, we headed off toward the end of the mall.  


Girl time ... a rite of passage.  First shopping trip, first purse ... what's next?